1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a liquid crystal display (LCD) apparatus, and more particularly, to an LCD apparatus including an electrode having a slit therethrough.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A liquid crystal display (LCD) apparatus includes two display plates having field generating electrodes such as a pixel electrode and a common electrode thereon. A liquid crystal layer is disposed between the two display plates. Polarizing plates are respectively disposed on the outer surfaces of the two display plates. Voltages are applied to the field generating electrodes, so that an electric field may be generated in the liquid crystal layer. Thus, an arrangement direction of liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer is determined. As such, the LCD apparatus may control light passing through the liquid crystal layer and an image may be displayed.
The LCD apparatus having a vertical alignment (VA) mode provides a large contrast ratio and a large reference side viewing angle. In the LCD apparatus having the VA mode, when the electric field is not applied to the liquid crystal layer, the longitudinal axes of the liquid crystal molecules are arranged substantially perpendicular to the display plates.
The VA mode includes a patterned vertical alignment (PVA) mode and a multi-domain vertical alignment (MVA) mode. To increase a side viewing angle, a slit can be formed on the field generating electrodes in the PVA mode or a protrusion can be formed on the field generating electrodes in the MVA mode. The slit and the protrusion determine the inclination direction of the liquid crystal molecules. Thus, the reference side viewing angle may be increased by disposing the slit and the protrusion in various configurations.
However, the slit and the protrusion decrease the transmittance of the LCD apparatus, and the liquid crystal molecules in a boundary area between the pixel electrodes are difficult to control. As such, the aperture ratio of a unit pixel area may be decreased. For example, in a normally black mode of the PVA mode, adjacent domains simultaneously affect the liquid crystal molecules disposed near the boundary area of the adjacent domains. As such, textures may be generated near the boundary area due to unstable liquid crystal molecules.
The textures cause optical defects such as stains and afterimages in a display screen. A response time may increase due to the textures. When the width of a light-blocking part is increased to cover the textures, the aperture ratio is decreased.